The Israel-Hamas War and Iran’s Regional Activities

In the wake of the shocking attack against Israel by Hamas, much attention has focused on the role of Iran, given its material, financial, and rhetorical support for Hamas. What is the nature of the coordination between Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah? How does Iran perceive its interests in this situation? Does Iran still view Hezbollah’s missile capabilities as a deterrent against a potential Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities? Or have Iran’s calculations potentially changed in a way which would make a large-scale attack by Hezbollah more likely than that would imply?

On October 17, the Center for the National Interest hosted a discussion of these issues and more.

Dr. Raz Zimmt is an expert on Iran at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). He holds a master’s degree and a PhD in Middle Eastern history from Tel-Aviv University and was selected as an Alice and Paul Baker Research Fellow at the INSS. His PhD dissertation focused on Iranian policy towards Nasserism and Arab radicalism between 1954 and 1967. He is also a research fellow at the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel-Aviv University. He is the author of the book “Iran From Within: State and Society in the Islamic Republic” published (in Hebrew) in 2022. In addition, he is the editor of “Spotlight on Iran” published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. His main research interests are the politics, foreign relations, society & social media of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Greg Priddy, Senior Fellow for the Middle East at the Center, moderated the discussion.